Mekong Delta works to prevent forest fires

HCM City (VNA) – Provinces in the Mekong Delta have stepped up efforts to
prevent forest fires as the region is entering the highly risky dry season.

In the
southernmost province of Ca Mau, many measures have been put in place,
especially to protect the 8,500ha U Minh Ha National Park.

Water in
the higher parts of the park have been drying out since the beginning of this
month and the threat of forest fire is high, according to the provincial
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Huynh
Minh Nguyen, director of the park, said rangers have taken positions in watch
towers to monitor the park around the clock.

They also
regularly patrol the park to prevent people from entering to collect honey,
hunt or fish, activities that could cause fires.

More than
5,000 families living in the park’s buffer zone and cajeput forests have been
mobilised to help fight forest fires.

The
department has called on private individuals managing forests to implement
preventive measures against fires.

Forest
management units should regularly assess the dryness to take proper
fire-prevention measures and teach local households how to prevent fires, it
said.
This
month the hot weather peaks in the south, according to the South Centre for
Hydrometeorology Forecasting.

In An
Giang province, districts with large forest areas including Tinh Bien and Tri Ton
are in a state of preparedness to prevent fires, said Tran Phu Hoa, head of the
province Forest Protection Sub-department., adding that Tinh Bien alone has
more than 6,270ha of forests that face the risk of fires.